Super Luigi U is the Demon's Souls of Mario games.

On 06/20/2013 at 11:09 PM by asrealasitgets

Super Luigi U is the Demon's Souls of Mario games.

I haven't been very satisfied with the newer 2D versions of Mario games. I don't think they present enough of a challenge to keep me playing them for too long. I do like collecting those hard to reach gold coins as a completionist, which is challenge enough I guess. However, Super Luigi U is a nightmare of a Mario game.

(Super Mario Bros. 2 (JP) and poison mushroom)

Back in the day Japan had a true sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. on NES, I think it was called Super Mario Bros 2, which was a remix of the original NES game but a lot more difficult. The game added items like poison mushrooms for example. I think the game was held back because Nintendo thought Americans were too dumb to play it or it was too similar to the original. The actual Super Mario Bros 2 that we got in the states was not even based on the original Super Mario games, but some weird platformer called Doki Doki Panic. Anyway, enough with the history lesson.

(Left: Super Mario Bros 2(US), Right: Doki Doki Panic (JP))

Luigi U is way more challenging than Super Mario Bros U or any of the newer 2D Mario games so far, much in the same way as the original Japan-only sequel to Super Mario Bros. His floaty jumps and inability to stop right away is going to guarantee many deaths. I've restarted and wasted a few continues and lives and I'm only in the second main area. I'm not complaining about the challenge, but it seems like a lot of players on Miiverse are. I'm not sure if it's a bad thing or a good thing? There are already videos up on youtube spoiling the game which sort of kills the challenge of doing it on your own. I might be exagerating a lot here, but the game does have me questioning my skills as a veteran mario player and that hasn't happened in quite some time. Maybe not since Super Mario World?

(Luigi vs lava monster like boss in Demon's Souls.)

(Demon's Souls Fire Boss. You may consider this to be a fun platformer after Luigi U.)

The game can be downloaed from the WiiU eShop for $20 and it requires ownership of the original Super Mario Bros WiiU game in order to download. It mostly alters the levels of the original map and changes Luigi's physics and movements which makes the game a bit more challenging than before. Also the physical disc will be available and playable as a stand alone game for $30 later in August.

Aboboisdaman

06/20/2013 at 11:13 PM

Mario 2 (the real one) is hard. I was playing it on Super Mario All Stars recently. I don't hardly ever die in those old Mario games since I've put endless hours into them, but that one gave me a lot of trouble. I would think this would be a refreshing change of pace. The new ones are way too easy.

asrealasitgets

06/20/2013 at 11:22 PM

I think I found this game a bit frustrating because I don't expect games to be hard anymore. Even if Nintendo said this game was harder than usual, I wasn't expecting like Contra NES hard. So I like that Nintendo is doing this. Hopefully we'll get more challenging games from now on and Nintendo wants their old gamers back. I have the original Japan Super Mario Bros 2 game on Virtual Console. I know it was later packaged and released as Lost Worlds. I might be exagerating here, but I tend to do that in my blog posts. I'm sure I can finish the game.

Justin Matkowski Staff Alumnus

06/21/2013 at 12:01 AM

This actually reminds me of a super hard Super Mario World mod - I believe it's called Luigi's Adventure, and it is a nightmare! It's not Kaizo World brutal, but it's close!

Nice to see Nintendo is ramping up the challenge for the Mario Veterans. Good luck on the playthrough man!

06/21/2013 at 03:34 AM

I'm not sure if I'm loving or hating the difficulty...I guess that's the point. You have to have precise timing and compensate for the floaty jumps and sliding.

Super Step Contributing Writer

06/21/2013 at 12:34 AM

Yeah, I don't like when I feel like I'm just going through the motions with a game, I definitely prefere a bit of a challenge. I might get frustrated with Luigi's physics, though.

06/21/2013 at 03:35 AM

Yeah, this isn't one of those easy flowing games. It requires skills on the players part. I would say you need Luigi jumping skills like in Super Mario Bros. 2 (US).

Matt Snee Staff Writer

06/21/2013 at 04:14 AM

this game looks really awesome, and I love Luigi, but I don't know if I could handle the difficulty. If I was a compulsive ten year old I could do it, but as a compulsive 36 year old my video game powers have faded a bit.

Vice's Assistant

06/21/2013 at 06:17 AM

This. I love Mario platformers but super diffcult ones drive me up the wall. It takes me sometimes years to finish a Mario game.

06/21/2013 at 04:39 PM

I can't handle the difficulty.

Cary Woodham

06/21/2013 at 05:29 AM

I'm glad that we got the Doki Doki Panic game in the US instead of the 'real' Mario 2. I actually like our Mario 2 better than Mario 3!

06/21/2013 at 04:38 PM

You mean playable toad and princess. Such a weird game though.

06/21/2013 at 07:11 PM

I like weird.

Homelessrook

06/21/2013 at 08:59 AM

I want to play it. I am waiting for the price drop on the Wii U. They have dicontinued the basic model, which never should have come out to start. Anyway, maybe it will pick up steam shortly.

Reggie Filet-O-Fish said no price drop. So suck it up and buy one cheapo!

06/21/2013 at 06:34 PM

LOL. Well said.

Alex-C25

06/21/2013 at 01:19 PM

Well, i'm not sure about NSMB U and NSMB 2, but I thought NSMB Wii was pretty challenging. It wasn't like, Contra hard, but I thought the road to Bowser's castle was not a walk in the park.

Anyway, now i'm curious about the game. Aside for my love for Mario, I quite like challenge in my games.

Raised_on_Nintendo

06/21/2013 at 02:12 PM

I agree. I thought NSMB: U nailed the difficulty. Pervious NSMB's were ineed too easy.

06/21/2013 at 04:37 PM

No. Every level is hard in this game. Every level.

Cyberxion

06/22/2013 at 02:20 PM

When I first started it, I managed to get a game over after failing repeatedly on the first level. Then I started to get the hang of Luigi's physics and it all kinda clicked. It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm on the fourth world with something like 26 lives, and I've managed to get all three star coins on most of the levels. It's difficult to be sure, but it's doable, and I'm really digging that it's no cakewalk. Especially since the levels are so short...

06/23/2013 at 07:25 PM

I think that it's a bit of a copout that a lot of those gold star coins are hidden. I mean, if I can see them in a hard to reach place it's a bit of a brain teaser, but hiding them from view is unfair and frustrating.

daftman

06/26/2013 at 10:16 AM

Wii recently got a Wii U and NSMBU but haven't had time to play it yet I'll probably just wait and get Luigi U when the disc comes out. I'm a sucker for physical media lol

PixlBit

Super Luigi U is the Demon's Souls of Mario games.

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